Saur Mountains

Saur
Saur
	Saur Location Saur Saur (Kazakhstan)
Highest point
Peak	Sauyr Zhotasy (Muz Tau)
Elevation	3,840 m (12,600 ft)
Naming
Native name	萨吾尔山 (Chinese); Сауыр жоталары (Kazakh);
Geography
Location	China–Kazakhstan border
Countries	Kazakhstan and China
Range coordinates	47°04′N 85°34′E / 47.067°N 85.567°E

The Saur Mountains (Chinese: 萨吾尔山; pinyin: Sàwú'ěr Shān; Kazakh: Сауыр жоталары, Sauyr jotalary; Russian: Саур) is one of the mountain ranges in the Tian Shan system. An eastern extension of the Tarbagatai Mountains, it starts on the China-Kazakhstan border and continues east into China, where it forms the border between the Hoboksar Mongol Autonomous County and Jeminay County of Xinjiang.

The highest peak of the range, and of the entire Saur-Tarbagatai mountain system, is the ice-capped Sauyr Zhotasy, also known as the Muz Tau.

Streams flowing south from the Saur make irrigated agriculture possible, although on a very limited scale, in their valleys in Hoboksar County. One of them reaches as far as the large oasis seen on Google Maps at 46°10′00″N 86°25′00″E / 46.16667°N 86.41667°E / 46.16667; 86.41667, in the southern part of Xiazigai Township (夏孜盖乡, Xiàzīgài xiāng). Apparently it is streams like this that Chinese geographers describe as "seasonal rivers sourcing from the northern mountains" whose water occasionally reaches the Manas Lake.^[1]

Notes

^ Yao, Yonghui; Li, Huiguo (2010), "Tectonic geomorphological characteristics for evolution of the Manas Lake", Journal of Arid Land, 2 (3): 167–173, doi:10.3724/SP.J.1227.2010.00167 (p.171)

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[arid-1] Yao, Yonghui; Li, Huiguo (2010), "Tectonic geomorphological characteristics for evolution of the Manas Lake", Journal of Arid Land, 2 (3): 167–173, doi:10.3724/SP.J.1227.2010.00167 (p.171)

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